Sounds like Mel Gibson got it right in ‘Apocalypto’, or perhaps didn’t go far enough. The “Aztlan” racists are always telling us how the Mayan civilization was peaceful, worshipped the stars in harmony, etc. B.S.
I don’t think there’s been a book in the last 50 years still pushing the old “Mayans were ruled by astronomer kings”
Apocalypto was my first thought when I read the article. What Mel Gibson did in that movie is brilliant, and the way he marketed it was really sly. He sold it with the insinuation that its message is about anti-imperialism. This was during the whole Iraq war hubbub. But then, at the very end, in literally the last scene, the movie delivers its real payload when the Spanish galleons are seen pulling up to shore — and the thought that you can’t help but think is “It’s going to be okay, Western Civilization has arrived”.